Kids At the Park event set for June 15 at Dunne Park
Kids and their families will fill Dunne Park June 15, from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. for the annual Kids At the Park. The event focuses
on kids’ safety, health and fitness.
”
We are really excited,
”
said Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director of the Community
Food Bank, one of the agencies involved in planning the event.
”
We have the California Highway Patrol, the sheriff’s department,
firemen, ambulances. The Calstar helicopter is going to be there.
We have a whole bunch of really good booths.
”
Kids At the Park event set for June 15 at Dunne Park
Kids and their families will fill Dunne Park June 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the annual Kids At the Park. The event focuses on kids’ safety, health and fitness.
“We are really excited,” said Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director of the Community Food Bank, one of the agencies involved in planning the event. “We have the California Highway Patrol, the sheriff’s department, firemen, ambulances. The Calstar helicopter is going to be there. We have a whole bunch of really good booths.”
This year’s event is sponsored by the Community Food Bank, the Hollister Youth Alliance and the City of Hollister.
“It’s a day where kids are special and it’s not school,” Hughes said. “It’s not, ‘You have to learn a lesson.’ It’s something you enjoy. … It’s an educational day, but done with fun.”
Many of the booths will share resources for families on how to keep kids safe and healthy. Many of the same agencies, such as law enforcement, will be returning from past years. But new this year will be Hollister Hills Recreation Park.
“They will bring their trailer,” Hughes said. “They haven’t been there before.”
First Trust Industries, which sells emergency preparedness kits, will be at the event, as will Farmers Insurance.
“There will be a bicycle rodeo,” Hughes said. “Kids can bring their bikes and go through an obstacle course the sheriff’s department has.”
The San Benito County Free Library will have its bookmobile at the event and the American Red Cross will have an R.V. there. Kids can also meet characters such as the Tooth Fairy and McGruff, the Crime Dog.
Members of the Hollister Youth Alliance change team, the group working with a grant to increase usage of Dunne Park, will give out healthy snacks during the event.
“I can’t wait to see the kids’ faces when we give out all the goodies we are going to give out,” said Anaid Godoy, the change team leader, and a member of the Kids At The Park planning committee. “It’s going to be healthy, but I am sure they are going to like them.”
Some of the snacks will include bagged carrots, bagged apples and real fruit pops.
“Everyone who does a survey gets a stamp and baggies of fresh fruits and vegetables.”
The survey is to ask parents and kids what kind of healthy snacks they would like to see if a snack shop opens at Dunne Park and what they would be willing to pay for snacks.
As for the stamp, Hughes explained that kids can register when they arrive at Dunne Park for the free event. They will get a passport to take to all the booths to get a stamp. If they complete their passport, the kids will be eligible for a drawing for a bicycle.
“They need to register so they can be qualified for the grand prizes,” Hughes said, noting that the registration table will be near the clubhouse. “We are going to have eight bicycles we are raffling off to people who get their sheets filled up.”
Diane Ortiz, executive director of the Hollister Youth Alliance, said partnering for the event was a good fit for the organization.
“It absolutely fits in our mission and what we are working to do every day,” she said. “Just as a community event it is very successful and the children really benefit from that. There is always a lot of participation and we want to make sure the resources that are available to kids and families are visible and this is a perfect way to do that.”
For Ortiz, the highlight of the event last year, the first year HYA and the Food Bank took over as the lead planners for the event, was teen participation.
“The Youth Alliance teens were involved,” she said. “We had the ASB from the high school who did fruits and veggies. We had a lot of youth volunteers and church groups.”
She recalled the teens helping with set-up and cleanup, as well as the activities such as teaching kids to do the hokey pokey dance.
“It was great to have them bring a different level of excitement to the event,” Ortiz said.
Kids At The Park
June 15, 2011
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dunne Park, Sixth and West Streets
Families are invited to the free Kids At The Park, where kids can register to win a bicycle by visiting a variety of safety or health and fitness-related booths. Some groups attending include the California Highway Patrol, Hollister Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department, San Benito County Free Library’s bookmobile, the Hollister Hills Recreation Park and more. Kids can bring their bikes to go through a bicycle rodeo put on by the Sheriff’s department to teach kids bicycle safety.
